Practice keyboard



Aprifil, 1958 B. ROYT ET AL 2 828 PRACTICE KEYBOARD Filed May 1'7, 1954 INVENTOR B Quince kogif United States Patent 9 PRACTICE KEYBOARD Beatrice Royt, New York, and Madeleine Carabo Cone, Briarclilf Manor, N. Y.

Application May 17, 1954, Serial No. 430,032

2 Claims. (Cl. 84-467) black and white keys and having the same hard or stiffsurface, which for many purposes causes undue stress and friction upon the fingers of the player or practicer, with the result that after prolonged practice and training the finger tips become sore and bruised.

For many purposes, particularly of spacing and finger extension and in exercise of the finger joints it is desirable to accomplish the same and to attain an enhanced effect from a practice viewpoint by having the finger tips contact a relatively soft, flexible, pliable surface, with the exercise and muscle training taking place at the joints of the fingers and in the palm, where the control muscles are for the most part located.

Particularly in the type of music which requires a very heavy or strong touch upon the keys, and which is fortissimo, it has been found that to practice the same on even a slightly rigid surface places severe wear and tear upon the finger tips without giving the necessary training and exercise benefit to the muscles which best control the players activities and, furthermore, after prolonged practice periods there is an inherent reaction against exerting the necessary pressure upon the player by practicing.

Even where a relatively flexible rubber underbase is employed with a stiff or rigid surface, this undesirable effect upon the finger tips is experienced.

It isamong the objects of the present invention to provide a novel practice keyboard which will decrease or substantially eliminate the stress and strain upon the finger tips and which will permit maximum exercise for and practice effect to the fingers and joint muscles in or adjacent the palm or the lower joints of the fingers.

A further object is to provide a practice keyboard which may be used for not only practicing by amateur or professional piano players but which also may be used for therapeutic purposes for exercise and training of the fingers and for beginners and learners, and which at the same time may be conveniently transported and will be inexpensive to manufacture and of low cost.

Another object is to provide a practice piano keyboard which will give a cushioning effect to the finger tips and will at the same time permit maximum exercise and training of the fingers and palm muscles which are actively called into play during piano playing and particularly in piano pieces requiring fortissimo activity.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed descriptions set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Patented Apr. 1, 1958 In accomplishing the above objects, it has been found most satisfactory, according to one embodiment of the present invention, to provide a practice keyboard of soft, readily pliable sponge or foam rubber which has a soft, unstiffened surface and which will permit sinking-in of the finger tips without any abrupt contact or pressure against the finger tips in fortissimo playing.

If desired, the keyboard may be made of a single slab of sponge or foam rubber which may be prepared in several layers adhesively connected together so that the more rigid sponge rubber will be adjacent the base of the keyboard with the foam or sponge rubber being of increasing softness from bottom to top.

This pad is slit at its forward edge to correspond to the key width slits extending to /2 the width or depth of the elongated pad.

The pad only provides the middle octaves, omitting the extreme last octave of each side of the last two octaves on each side.

The black keys are superimposed and cemented onto the white keysin proper position and preferably they may be of a stiffer foam or sponge rubber than the white main keys or pad of material which constitutes the main keyboard.

If the stiffness of the material is not sufficient to give substantially lateral support to the keys and prevent sidewise canting of the keys, it has been found preferable in some instances to reinforce the sides of the keys but not the top of the keys by thin layers of extra rubber or other stiffening material which will not substantially affect or decrease vertical pressability but which will lessen the tendency toward movement of canting of the black or white keys to the side as pressure is applied thereto.

A particular feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the keyboard may be readily wound up or rolled up and transported in a small, light bag and then readily set up on any table, stand or bedside by a learner or practicing musician, who has the same always available and may practice diligently without annoyance to neighbors.

A further important feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the rubber flexible keyboard may be used in public schools or music schools and conveniently spread upon a big table with the pupils facing one another and will permit instruction of a class ranging from 5 to 20 or 30 sitting at desks or around the table without disturbing the rest of the school or classes, as would occur in connection with a number of students playingthe piano together.

Either full or partial keyboards may be made, depending upon the use to which the device is put. For example,-

short keyboards can be used for beginners or school children, whereas the full size can be used for professionals.

It is particularly important that the striking surface of the keys be soft and resilient and not be surfaced with any hard or rigid material.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically. described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a top perspective view of a foam or sponge rubber keyboard in playing position, according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view upon the line 2+2 of Fig. l and upon an enlarged scale as compared to Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view upon the line 3-3 of Fig. l and upon an enlarged scale as compared to Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a top perspective view showing how the practice keyboard of Fig. 1 may be readily rolled up, ed together and transported, stored, packaged or displayed.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view similar to Fig. 3 upon an enlarged scale.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, there is shown a pad of sponge or foam rubber A. This pad has been cut at its forward edge B into a series of white keys C. Superimposed upon the pad A are a series of black keys D.

The width, length and height of the white keys C and the black keys D should be substantially the same as that of a standard piano.

The top surfaces 1 3 and 31 of the white keys an'l the black keys D, respectively, should be soft and permit the finger tips to sink into the material. It is desirable that all stiff surfacing be avoided.

The lower layer or lower portion 12 of the keys may be of stiffer material so that the compression will meet with greater resistance as the top surface 10 moves downwardly.

The same may also be done with the black keys D, which may have a relatively soft upper portion at 11 and a stiffer lower portion at 13.

Desirably, the keys D being without side support may be made of a stiffer material than the white keys C.

The slits 14 which separate the white keys desirably terminate at or in front of the front edge 15 of the black keys D. These slits will extend the full depth of the pad A and at their forward ends they are provided with the bevelled portions 16.

Normally, the support along the sides of the slits 14' will permit the tip of the finger to sink directly downwardly into the top surface it) of the keys without sidewise canting. However, if desired stiffening varnish may be applied along the side faces 7.4 of the white keys C and the side faces of the black keys D in Figs. 2 and 3 or a piece of thin fabric, as indicated at 17 in Fig. 5, may be applied to the side of the keys to reinforce them. Such stiffening may be applied to the extreme outside faces 18 of the pad A and if desired to the front faces 19 of the keys as well as the back face 29.

The pad as shown in Fig. 1 may be readily rolled up as shown in Fig. 4, and held together with the rubber band 21 and shipped, stored, merchandised or packaged in this coiled-up, compact form.

It will be noted that the top edges of the black keys D are bevelled, as indicated at 22, and this bevelling as indicated in the alternative embodiment of Pigv 5, may be limited to the reinforcement side material.

These reinforcement side edges 17 may be of the same type of soft rubber as the keys themselves but turned so that they will have a different grain or striation effect.

It is to be noted that the present practice keyboard not only may serve to permit training and prac icing but also may be used to give a therapeutic effect where it is de' sider to exercise finger and palm muscles and to restore their tone and vigor as a result of illness.

Not only may student and professional pianists practice upon this keyboard but in addition it may be used for therapeutic effect in hospitals or homes even for such persons as have no piano training.

The cushioning effect of the top of the keys results in decrease in tension on the part of those W110 use the practice piano keyboard and the board may be conven' iently placed upon hospital tables or upon stands adja cent beds, to be used by patients having a wide variety of disorders or by other than the training of piano stu dents or practice by piano professionals.

A particularly unusual result of the practice piano key board is that it lifts and removes the strain from the finger tips while permitting full training of the finger and palm muscles, which is not readily possible with the standard piano keyboard nor achieved with rubber keyboards with stiff faces.

A most important feature is that the maximum soft ness is achieved at the top faces it and ill of the keys C and D.

The sponge or foam rubber keyboard of the present invention is particularly suitable for instruction of children in public or music schools, and it permits a large number of students sitting at their desks or around their table to practice without the noise which would usually arise from a large number of pianos being played at the same time.

With professionals, the device of the present invention is particularly useful with heavy or repeated chord practice of fortissimo playing.

Either sponge or foam rubber may be utilized either in combination, and although the sides of the keys may be reinforced, it is usually found suflicient to leave the sides of the keys, as well as the top of the keys, of un reinforced or unsurfaced sponge or foam rubber which may be used singly or in combination.

The construction of the keyboard permits rolling up for convenient packing or storage and gives a most portable device. The softness of the sponge rubber gives a relaxing sensation and soothes the finger tips, particu' larly where a large amount of practicing is required.

If desired, it is possible to mold the keyboard of the present invention in one piece, and thereafter the sharp and flat keys may be colored black, or as an alternative the base keys may be colored white.

While there has been herein described a preferred form of the invention, it should be understood that the same may be altered in details and in relative arrangement of parts within the scope of the appended claims.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimedv is:

1. A practice piano keyboard capable of being rolled up for storage, shipment, packaging and merchandising comprised of a partly slitted sheet of a soft cellular rubber having black and white keys with soft upper surfaces, devoid of hard surfacings upon the finger tip contacting areas to permit the finger tips to strike and press down and compress the upper portions of the keys without injury and undue pressure upon the finger tips, said keys having side reinforcements to prevent them from canting over.

2. A rectangularly shaped one-piece sponge or foam rubber practice keyboard having a plurality of parallel transverse cuts to form white keys having soft top surfaces devoid of stiffening surfacing permitting a soft finger tip contact, the side of said white keys having stiffening to prevent sidewise canting.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,019,640 Woodhouse Nov. 5, 1935 

